The United States has begun planning the total closure of its embassy in the Afghan capital, Kabul, given the advance of the Taliban insurgency in the country’s provincial capitals, as reported by multiple sources close to the procedure to the Politico news portal.
The sources consider the closure, not yet announced, as “inevitable”, and have indicated that the remaining personnel in the diplomatic mission have begun to destroy classified documents and electronic equipment. The destruction of any document with “American flags that could be misused in propaganda efforts” is also expected.
This news comes as nearly 3,000 US military personnel head to Kabul to help evacuate Embassy personnel and other civilians in the Afghan capital.
An infantry brigade combat team will also relocate from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Kuwait to act as a rapid reaction force for security in Kabul if necessary, according to the Pentagon.
The contingent is expected to arrive in the capital on Sunday given the critical situation, recognized by the Pentagon itself. “Kabul is not in an environment of imminent threat right now, but clearly … if you look at what the Taliban have been doing, you can see that they are trying to isolate Kabul,” according to Defense spokesman John Bailey.
The Taliban have assured this Saturday that a new provincial capital, Sharana, the main city of Paktika (in the center-east of the country), is already under their control after announcing their conquest of three other provincial capitals the day before. , in this case those of Ghor, Uruzgán and Logar, within the framework of a brilliant advance during the last week that has allowed them to seize about half of the 34 provincial capitals of the Asian country.
